Today was a crazy day as we crammed many things into it! We didn't have anything planned until 11 a.m. so we had the morning in the hotel. I found a few gifts nearby while I sent Tom out to find longer socks for the girls. He also found a Starbuck's while he was gone!
Our first stop late this morning was the Xi'an History Museum. I wish Tom wasn't sacked out right now because he would have much more to say than I will! I have already told you my idea of a tour of a museum. This museum had much to do about the Qin Dynasty and there were a lot of relics throughout. Quite honestly, I was more interested in finding the nearest bench or the nearest exit sign! After the museum we headed towards the Terra Cotta Warriors. We stopped first at the factory that makes the replicas of the warriors. We had a tour of the factory and made a few purchases of miniature warriors. We then went to the Terra Cotta Warrior Museum. Our first stop at the museum was a KFC! Tyler was so bummed that they didn't have mac and cheese! I was bummed that they didn't have a western toilet! Oh, well.....when in Rome.
In all seriousness, I was really looking forward to seeing the excavation sight of the Terra Cotta Warriors. One of my regrets in having been to China twice was that I never got to go there. I was not disappointed! What an amazing find! In 1974 some farmers were digging a well when they came across the first finding of this treasure. They found the 2200 year old subterraneaun army of Emperor qin Shi Huang. There are three pits. Pit 1 has more than 6000 warrors, horses and wooden carriages. Pit 2 and has 350 chariots, 116 calvary horses and 900 soldiers. Pit 3 and is believed to represent the battlefield headquarters. Qin sure did want his mausoleum to be over the top! Amazing. I guess if immortality was impossible, the next best thing was to build a mausoleum like no other...and that is what Qin did!
After the museum we headed to a late dinner and show. The dinner was basically a dumping buffet of sorts. I can't say that I was that thrilled with it...neither were the girls. We had over ten different types of dumpling...in various shapes....walnuts, ducks, monkeys, etc.
After dinner we went to a local theater to watch a show. The girls loved it.....as did the rest of us. It was full of Xi'an folk music and dance. The girls loved the "White Sleeved Dance."
I'm not sure what photos Tom attached. I am thinking there are several from the TC Museum. I think there might be two of Ty and Dan'es head on top of a TC warrior. I don't think they will like that we posted them! We included one of a woman working on miniature soldiers. There is one of Lily and Sarah in front of Pit 1....several other photos of Pit 1. You'll notice one photo of the girls in front of a large warrior and a girl. These are puppets and you might recall them from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olumpics in China. I asked Tom to add a picture of one of the dumplings....the duck. And finally, one of the dances from the show.
Tomorrow we are leaving Xi'an. We are going to visit the city wall before we leave. I think the boys will go bike-riding on the top of the wall. We will stop at a Muslim market before heading out to the airport. We arrive in Guilin tomorrow night. We are looking forward to the mountains, the rivers and the caves.
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